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removal of insanitary conditions which may affect the patient. The
information thus obtained is placed at the disposal of the medical man
who is willing to co-operate.
The following is a summary of the means which are now available
in Westminster:—
(1) Voluntary notification.
(2) Compulsory notification of Poor Law cases.
(3) Provision of means for obtaining bacteriological examination
of sputum, &c.
(4) Examination of suspected cases in the families of patients
attending Brompton and Margaret Street Hospitals.
(5) Visiting of patients at their homes by a Health Visitor, who
endeavours to obtain, where required, better food, sanatorium
treatment, clothing, &c., through various charitable societies; gives
instructions as to measures of personal hygiene and precautions
against infection, &c.; and prepares and keeps records of all
material matters relating to the patient and the family.
(6) Educational training by a short stay in a sanatorium
provided by the City Council.
(7) Prolonged sanatorium treatment for patients resident or
employed in the parish of St. Anne, Soho, through the St. Henry
Trust; for Jewish cases, through the Jewish Board of Guardians;
for children, through the Invalid Children's Aid Association and
the Metropolitan Asylums Board; for some others, through the
Charity Organisation Society; and the various general and special
hospitals through their Almoners; and by the Poor Law Guardians
of two Unions at their special infirmary at Hendon.
(8) Disinfection of rooms, bedding, clothing, &c., after death,
on change of address or while patients are temporarily away, by
the Public Health Authority.
(9) Provision for the use of poor persons certified under the
Tuberculosis Regulations, on loan or otherwise, of any appliance,
apparatus, or utensil (such as special flasks for spitting into) which
will be of assistance for the purpose of any precaution against the
spread of infection.
Notification.—In 1908, 155 notifications were received, 69 of these
being inmates of Poor Law Infirmaries.
In 1909, 601 notifications were received. 437 being sent by Poor Law
officers. There were a considerable number of duplicate notifications,
especially among the Poor Law cases. The actual number of persons
was 438, of whom 109 were females; of these, 159 were heard of first
through voluntary notification, and 279 were notified under the Order
(30 of whom had been voluntarily certified in previous years).